Unmeasured response
by cein
Summary: Post ep fic to S5 ep 5 (beware the spoilers!) Sometimes all you can do to help your friends is to do your job


Title: Unmeasured response  
Fandom: The Doctor Blake Mysteries  
Author: Ceindreadh  
Type of Story: one-shot  
Characters: Matthew Lawson, Alice Harvey  
Pairing: Matthew/Alice  
Rating: 15  
Spoilers: Up to S5 ep 5  
Summary: Post ep fic to Measure twice. Sometimes all you can do to help is to do your job.  
Word count: ~ 1,900

Notes: I wondered why Matthew wasn't at the hospital at the end of the episode. This can be taken as a sequel to Unconventional Associates, but you don't have to read that one first. (but please do!)  
Disclaimer. I don't own the characters, I'm only borrowing them, and no copyright infringement is intended.

* * *

The first call came through near the end of the shift. Ned had taken the call and relayed that Vern Armstrong's neighbours were reporting a disturbance next door to them. Matthew hadn't given it all that much thought. It wouldn't have been the first time that an opportunistic thief had decided to burgle a property known to be unoccupied. He'd ordered Charlie to take Ned with him to secure the scene and then he'd gone back to work, satisfied in knowing that his Senior Sergeant should be able to handle the matter and the ensuing paperwork.

The second call came just as Matthew was about to brew up some tea. Nobody else had been in the room at the time, so he had turned back to his desk and picked up the phone. "Ballarat Police Station," he said, crisply. "Chief Superintendent Lawson speaking."

"Boss, it's the Doc," said Charlie, his voice breathless. "He's been stabbed!"

Matthew's legs gave way and he collapsed into a chair. "Stabbed?" he managed to force the word out. Clearing his throat, he continued, "Where is he…how is he…is he…" He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence.

"I've called the ambulance," Charlie continued, "There's a lot of blood but he's still breathing, there's a good pulse." There was a brief hesitation on the other end of the line. "Sir, Percy Walker is here too. He was out cold when we got here, but it looks like he was the one who stabbed the doc."

"Get him into custody now," ordered Matthew, "See what he knows about Vern Armstrong as well. No way he just happens to show up there by accident." He hung up the phone, saying a silent prayer of relief that there wasn't going to be another count of murder to add to the register of outstanding charges.  
Taking a deep breath, he picked up the phone again, this time to make a difficult call. "Jean, it's Matthew."

* * *

"Matthew!" Jean was a little out of breath, but calm as she caught up with Matthew on the hospital stairs. "Where is Lucien, how is he?"

"I know as much as you do Jean," said Matthew, grimacing slightly as he took another step. "Alice said she'd speak to the doc in charge and meet us upstairs. He saw Jean glance at the stairs and then back at Matthew. "Go on," he said, "I'll catch up with you."

Jean shook her head, "We'll go together," she said, taking Matthew's arm. It was difficult to tell who was leaning on who as they continued up the stairs.

"It was a tension pneumothorax," said Alice as they sat in the corridor, "Caused by a penetrating chest injury. The chest wall was pierced by the blade and allowed air to enter the pleural space. It's quite amazing that Lucien was able to relieve the pressure himself before passing out…"

"Alice!" interrupted Matthew, "Please just tell us if he's going to be all right!"

"He's in theatre at the moment. Mr. Osman is just putting in a chest tube to replace Lucien's pen. It's a relatively straightforward procedure and there's every likelihood that he'll make a full recovery."

"Thank you, Alice," said Jean. She sighed heavily, "Oh Lucien, what have you gotten yourself into now!"

"I have some work to finish up downstairs," said Alice. She stood up. "I'll come back and see Lucien when he's out of surgery. It shouldn't be too long." Giving Matthew a quick pat on the shoulder, she walked away.

* * *

"That foolish, foolish man!" said Jean, as she and Matthew waited in the corridor. "What was he doing there in the first place?"

"You know Lucien," said Matthew, "Gets an idea into his head and can't rest until he's tested it out." He laughed, "Remember that time he went to dig up a grave in the middle of the night?"

Jean smiled, "I remember how filthy his clothes were and how difficult it was to get the dirt out." She pulled out a tissue from her bag and dabbed at her eyes. "And now I'll have another shirt to mend and try to get the blood out."  
Matthew knew from experience that the nurses sorting a bloke out for surgery didn't go half measures when it came to removing clothing. There likely wouldn't be much left of Lucien's shirt to repair, but he knew Jean needed to talk away her fears and her concerns so he sat and listened and waited for what seemed like an eternity until Mr. Osman came down the corridor to tell them that the surgery had been a complete success and that they could see the patient as soon as he'd been moved to his room.

"He looks as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth," said Matthew, hardly able to contain his relief as he stood by Lucien's bedside.

"Yes," said Jean, "Maybe I should keep him like this. He'd certainly be a lot less trouble. Wouldn't you, Lucien?" Lucien shifted in the bed, but didn't respond.

"Do you have any idea of the amount of paperwork you're after causing me today?" said Matthew, "Not to mention all the trouble I'll have to go to, to find a locum Police Surgeon while you're off your feet." He sighed theatrically but there was only an incoherent mumble in response.

"Mr. Osman did say that it could be a few hours before he comes round fully," said Jean, as she sat down beside the bed. "Matthew, do sit down and take the weight off your leg."

Matthew shook his head, "I'm not stopping, Jean. Now that I know he's going to be okay, I need to get back to the station." He saw Jean's look of surprize. "This is still an active investigation," he said. "Not that I don't trust Charlie, but this case, this is getting my full attention as well. We're going to be throwing the book at Percy Walker and by God I'm going to make sure it all sticks." He moved towards the door. "Give me a call when he's awake, or better yet, when he starts making sense…and I'll send Charlie round to take a statement."

"Thank you, Matthew," said Jean, a puzzled look on her face as she watched him close the door.

* * *

Matthew knuckles were white as he clutched his cane tightly. Truth be told, it wasn't just his desire to put the case to bed that had him in such a rush to leave the room. Walking into the hospital, knowing that his closest friend was lying there injured, that had been hard enough, and waiting for news of the surgery had been agonizing. But he'd dealt with it, knowing that Lucien would have done the same for him, that he *had* done the same for him. He'd kept it together for Jean's sake, knowing that she needed his support. It wasn't until he'd walked into the hospital room that it all started to overcome him. Of course it had to be the same room that he'd woken up in all those months ago. Hardly surprising since both he and Lucien had been surgical patients. Thinking quickly, he made his excuses and left, but as he limped down the corridor, the pain, the fear, the despair he'd felt at that time had come back to him and he clutched at the wall, breathing heavily. Abruptly he turned at the end of the corridor, barely making it to the gents and an empty cubicle before the nausea overwhelmed him.

It had been a long time since his lunch, and there wasn't a lot to come up, but Matthew retched until there was nothing left in his stomach, and then slumped back against the wall. He closed his eyes and waited until the walls had stopped spinning. Finally, he retrieved his cane and struggled to his feet. "Work to do," he told himself. "Work to do."

* * *

"You okay, Boss?" asked Charlie as Matthew limped into the station. "You look a bit..."

"I'm fine," growled Matthew, "Where are we with Walsh?"

Charlie opened his mouth as if to say something, but thought better of it. Instead he picked up a file from his desk and carried it over to Matthew's desk.  
"He's confessed to Vern's murder. Said it was down to a patent for a design that Vern was working on. We found some papers at the scene which appear to corroborate it. I have his signed confession and I'm just finishing drafting the charge sheets for the attacks on Ethan and the Doc."

Matthew scanned through the file. "Good work, Charlie," he said finally. "I'll finish up this. Why don't you head over to the hospital, see if Ethan can fill in a few blanks. And Lucien will probably be awake by now and hounding Jean for updates on the case. You can take his statement as well."

"Oh," said Charlie, "But wouldn't you rather…" He stopped as Matthew looked at him, his expression unreadable. "Yes Boss," he said, gathering his things and heading for the door.

"Oh, and Charlie?" Matthew's head was bent back over the file. "If you run into Rose at the hospital, you can give her a quote for the Courier. Nothing too flashy mind, keep it professional."

"Yes Boss," said Charlie.

* * *

It was late when Matthew finally finished going through the file, satisfied that the case against Walsh was as air-tight as they could make it. Charlie had phoned him with details of the statements he'd taken from both Ethan and Lucien, but Matthew had told him that he could update the file in the morning.

"I thought I'd find you here." Matthew looked up and smiled involuntarily as he saw Alice standing in front of the desk.

"Paperwork," said Matthew, indicating his desk. "You know how it is."

"Yes," said Alice as she sat down across from him. "I do" She looked at him quizzically.

"What, have I got something on my nose?"

"No," said Alice, "But Jean said that you'd left the hospital in a hurry…she thought you didn't seem quite yourself."

"I don't like hospitals at the best of times," said Matthew. "I like them even less when one of closest friends is lying there and there's not a damn thing I can do to help him."

"I think Lucien was well able to help himself," said Alice, "It's really quite amazing how he was able to use his pen to mitigate the effects of his injury. I do look forward to hearing the details of how he managed it."

"How do you do it?" Matthew blurted out. "He's your friend too, how can you be so…detached?"

"I'm a trained Doctor," said Alice, "We have to find a way to focus on the medical, rather than the personal or we'll never be able to do our jobs effectively. Sometimes we have to forget that there's a person involved and just focus on the illness, or the injury…or the crime." She reached out and gently squeezed his hand.

Matthew took her hand in his and held it. "I have more paperwork to deal with. It could take a while to finish."

Alice smiled at him but didn't pull her hand away. "Then I'll wait."

The end


End file.
